


Puppy Love

by Halvwyn



Series: Life of the Party Ficlets and Fics [4]
Category: Life of the Party D&D (Web Series)
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Astra is incapable of lying to people he cares about, Dogs, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gay, M/M, Modern Era, Pets, Surprises, These children deserve to be happy, and you can't convince me otherwise, badly kept secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:21:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23388046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Halvwyn/pseuds/Halvwyn
Summary: Today was hands down the best day of Verdant Astra’s life. He’d been walking back to the apartment he shared with Vanden when he’d heard the small whimpering bark of a puppy in the alleyway behind the coffee shop he worked at. It had only taken a handful of minutes searching, and several more of calling and bribing with leftover bites of Astra’s lunch before a very dirty, very hungry puppy had found its way into Astra’s lap.
Relationships: Astra/Renard (Life of the Party)
Series: Life of the Party Ficlets and Fics [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1681585
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	Puppy Love

**Author's Note:**

> Another Life of the Party ficlet because I can't sleep, so I might as well write!  
> The prompt for this one was: A puppy follows Astra home, and he can't bear to part with it. Astra brings the puppy inside and tries to hide it from Vanden.
> 
> **I'll also _happily_ take requests or prompts!

Today was hands down the best day of Verdant Astra’s life. He’d been walking back to the apartment he shared with Vanden when he’d heard the small whimpering bark of a puppy in the alleyway behind the coffee shop he worked at. It had only taken a handful of minutes searching, and several more of calling and bribing with leftover bites of Astra’s lunch before a very dirty, very hungry puppy had found its way into Astra’s lap.

Sneaking the puppy home had been the easy part, stopping off at a grocery store on the way home to get a small bag of food and setting the puppy up in the kitchen with some water and kibble. The hard part, Astra realized, was going to be convincing Vanden that they were  _ meant  _ to have this little ball of fur. Watching the dog wander between the kitchen and living areas, Astra sat curled on the couch, a notepad filled with crossed off ideas of how to convince his boyfriend to let him adopt the pup.

He smiled down softly as the puppy wandered up to press his nose against Astra’s tail, which was hanging off the side of the couch. “Maybe I’ll just keep you a secret for a little while, until I can wear him down. What do you think, little one?” he asked softly, setting down his pen and pad to scoop up the ball of fluff. After a short while spent gently wrestling, Astra scooped the dog up into his arms, bouncing him as if a baby.

“How to do this, hm?” he mused to himself, walking from room to room of the apartment, before settling on a plan. “I think I know just the thing. But first, you need a bath something awful.”

* * *

By the time Vanden returned home, Astra was a ball of nervous energy. He’d walked through the apartment more times than he could count. He’d tucked away the bowls of food and water and the puppy himself in the bathroom, where Vanden would _hopefully_ not be heading for a long while. 

As the door opened, Astra sprung up out of his seat, meeting Vanden as he entered the living room. “Welcome home, Love!” he greeted happily, leaning down to steal a chaste kiss as his boyfriend raised a suspicious eyebrow. 

“What’s going on?” Vanden asked slowly, setting down the last of his things before turning to fully face Astra, leaning back against the arm of the sofa.

A familiar heat Astra’s face, purple sneaking its way onto his cheeks as he stammered an excuse. “Going on? Why does something have to be going on for me to greet ya with a kiss?”  _ Perfect cover,  _ he mused.

Vanden’s eyes softened slightly and he leaned up for another brief kiss. With a sigh, he pulled back running a hand through his hair, “I’m...sorry, nothing needs to be going on for you to do that.” Astra smiled down at him at that, reaching out to tangle his fingers in Vanden’s.

They stayed like that a short while, enjoying each other’s company after day’s work. The quiet was interrupted as Vanden reluctantly pulled his hand away, moving to stand. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he mumbled, stepping away from his partner and heading down the hallway towards their bedroom and the bathroom.

Just as Vanden’s hand reached the bathroom door knob, Astra cut in, voice nearly a squeal, “No! You can’t go in there!” he called, rushing down the hall, “there’s a….a leak on the sink. It’s a bad leak. Gonna have to call a repairman, I think, but for now we shouldn’t use the bathroom.”

The suspicion that had just faded from Vanden’s face returned in full force as he moved to turn the knob, “Well, if there’s a leak, I should see how bad it is so we can tell the repairman when we call,” he countered slowly, carefully watching Astra’s panicked face as he attempted to cover his tracks.

“But...but you’ll get your clothes all wet, and then they’ll be ruined, and-” Astra’s rambling was cut off by the shrill bark of the puppy. Nearly in sync with the sound, Vanden’s eyebrows shot up to nearly disappear into his hairline and Astra’s face flushed in awkwardness. “Vanden….I can explain.”

“Astra if there’s a dog in our bathro-”

“But he’s  _ such  _ a good boy, love! He may be the  _ best boy  _ I’ve ever met! I couldn’t just leave him in the alley when he was so good!” For a long moment, Vanden stared, unwavering into Astra’s eyes. The tiefling held his breath, his eyes begging for the dog hiding in their bathroom. After a length of time Astra was unable to determine, the ginger sighed slowly, shoulders drooping in surrender.

“I will  _ look  _ at the puppy,” he held up a hand as excitement flooded Astra’s features, “I’m not saying we’re keeping him, but I will  _ look. _ ” Shaking his head, Vanden slowly opened the door, nearly squawking as a ball of fluff plowed into his shins. 

“Well, hello there.” he murmured softly, kneeling down to scratch the pup behind the ears. To Astra’s delight, it wasn’t long before Vanden was sitting cross-legged on the floor, the puppy sitting in his lap happily.

“So…?” he ventured tentatively, watching his boyfriend’s reaction to the surprise carefully.

Vanden’s eyes flickered between Astra and the dog in his lap several times before shaking his head, “So, what’s his name?”


End file.
